Four Last Things Review

Four Last Things is an indie point-and-click adventure game made in a Monty Python-esque style of animated paper cut-outs taken from classical paintings. The game takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the notions of sin and judgment. In this Four Last Things review, we’ll take a deep look at the game and what you can expect from playing it.

Your Mission

Four Last Things is a lighthearted game combining elements of art, religion and history to create something more absurd than the sum of its parts. From a game-play perspective, the design is simple and familiar. You will explore artistic landscapes, interacting with the environment by point-and-click mechanics, and solve puzzles to progress to the next area.

Design & Graphics

No Four Last Things review could be complete without talking about the art. The visual style of the game is by far its most notable quality, and you may find it worth paying a few dollars just to see the visual concept in action.

Creator Joe Richardson built the game’s art assets by copying Renaissance art and animating it in the paper cut-out style of Monty Python. All of the art is modified with care to bring it to life, from moving lips during dialogue sequences to flying birds in the background.

You will likely recognize many of the people, places and things you encounter in the game, and it’s easy to sink hours into simply exploring and examining the environments to enjoy the travel through art history.

The sound design of Four Last Things is similarly cribbed from the familiar. Clips of public domain classical music make up the soundtrack. There is no voice-over work; all dialogue is handled with on-screen text that won’t interrupt your immersion.

Main Characters

The player character is an unnamed traveler who has set out on a pilgrimage to confess his sins and prepare for judgment. However, he discovers that there is a flaw in his plan: The sins he has committed are not valid in this catchment, so he must go out and commit them all over again if he wishes to confess and be absolved.

This absurdist concept is at the heart of the game and launches the adventure for the player. There’s not enough room in a brief Four Last Things review to touch on all of the colorful side characters and adventures you’ll face, but rest assured that the game will carry you through a variety of landscapes and conversations with all manner of people, from religious icons to tired peasants in 16th century Flanders.

Storyline

The phrase “Four Last Things” is rooted in Christian theology. It refers to the final stages of the soul in the transition from life to the afterlife. They are Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. These four last things are also the final goals of the nameless traveler in the game of the same name.

The game begins with a humorous montage re-imagining the story of Original Sin and the creation of man. This sets up the primary themes of sin and redemption in the game. Once meeting the traveler, you will go on a journey across multiple different environments to commit new sins so that they can later be confessed and absolved.

After successfully completing each puzzle, you’ll receive congratulations for successfully sinning. There are seven sins to commit before moving on to the eponymous Four Last Things.

Although the game deals with Christian symbolism and theology, it is not an inherently religious game. The story is lighthearted and irreverent, and anyone reading the Four Last Things review should go into the game expecting it to be a bit silly rather than profound or especially educational.

Additional Versions

The game was originally developed for PC, and you can purchase it through Steam to play on your desktop or laptop computer. There are also mobile versions available for iOS and Android. The game described in this Four Last Things review is essentially the same across all platforms. Since there is no real difference between them, it’s best to just choose the game platform that you most enjoy playing on.

Final Thoughts

For its quirky humor and unique visual style alone, Four Last Things is well worth a few dollars and hours of your time. This Four Last Things review touched on the core concepts that make the game unique, but you’ll likely have the best experience by exploring the game world itself.

Hardcore puzzle and adventure gamers may be disappointed by the game’s length. Although some puzzles are challenging and require some outside-the-box thinking, the game is not especially difficult. Players who don’t take much time exploring the environment and soaking up its details may be disappointed by the length of the game, which can be completed within an hour or two. More casual gamers who are interested in exploring and interacting with the richly animated environments may get several more hours of enjoyment from the game.

Four Last Things was crowd-funded by its one-man creator on Kickstarter, and fans of the game may be interested to explore other similar projects by Joe Richardson such as his first game, The Preposterous Awesomeness of Everything, and The Procession to Calvary, a sequel to Four Last Things that draws on similar themes and uses the same art style and characters.